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An Excerpt from Growing Big Dreams
By Robert Moss

The greatest crisis of our lives is a crisis of imagination. We come to a dead stop because there is a barrier in front of us and we can’t imagine a way to get around or over it. Our work space feels like it is walled with cement blocks that are closing in more tightly every day, but we can’t imagine where we would go if we quit. We can’t breathe in an airless relationship but can’t picture how to take off. We look in the mirror, when we dare, and see the age lines, the skin blemishes, maybe the thinning hair, not the beauty that we may carry inside.

We go on repeating to ourselves the tired old stories, strapped onto us by family or past histories of defeat and disappointment. Or we cling to memories of brighter days, or that win on the high school sports field, or that sweet summer romance, or that medal for valor, or that early success that was never repeated. Either way, by nursing grief or guilt or nostalgia, we manage to go through life looking in the rear-view mirror, stuck in the past, never fully available to the present moment.

Or we miss the moment by carrying anxiety about the future, screening mental scenarios for what could go wrong. We give ourselves a hundred reasons not to take the risk of doing something new, something that would take us beyond the gated communities of the mind into the wilds of creative adventure.

Conscious of it or not, we go around repeating our negative mantras. I’m too old. I’m not pretty enough. I don’t have the money. People always let you down. People don’t change. I’m so tired. You don’t think you do this? Pause for a moment. Take off the headphones. Listen to what’s playing on your inner soundtrack. It may be a song. “Am I blue?”

I confess there are days, between snowstorms in a northeastern winter, when my mood can slump and go the color of the dirty gray ramparts of ice on the curb in my small, gritty city. And more days like these in the shut-up times of the pandemic. I don’t want to get out of bed even to walk the dog, who is waiting for me patiently. I may be stirred back to life by a dream or a cheering message from a loved one or hopes of an ocean beach vacation or a foreign adventure. But when I find it is still hard to rise above a low, lethargic mood and dump those negative mantras — My legs hurt, I’m played out, I can’t walk on the ice — I call in one of the greatest life coaches I know.

I know him from his most famous book. Maybe you do too. His book is titled Man’s Search for Meaning. His name is Viktor Frankl. He was an existentialist — which is to say, someone who believes that we must be authors of meaning for our own lives — and a successful psychiatrist in Vienna before Nazi Germany swallowed Austria in 1938. He was a Jew and a freethinking intellectual, two reasons for the Nazis to send him to a concentration camp. For several years he was in Auschwitz, the most notorious of the Nazi death camps.

In the camp, every vestige of humanity was taken from him, except what he could sustain in his mind and his heart. He was in constant pain, reduced to a near skeleton with a tattooed number on his arm, liable at any moment to be beaten or killed on the whim of a
guard. He was there to be worked to death. He watched those around him shot or pummeled or carted off to the gas chambers every day.

He made an astonishing choice. He decided that, utterly deprived of freedom in the nightmare world around him, he would tend one precious candle of light within. He would exercise the freedom to choose his attitude. It sounds preposterous, if you don’t know the story of what unfolded. When people tell us we have a bad attitude in ordinary circumstances, we are usually not grateful. The suggestion that we can choose our attitude when the world around us seems cold and bleak or we have suffered a major setback, even heartbreak, sounds cruel. But let’s stay with Viktor Frankl.

When the light went out in his world, he managed to light that inner candle of vision. Despite the pain in his body and the screams and groans around him, he made an inner movie, a film of a possible life in a world where the Nazis had been defeated and Hitler was a memory. It was an impossible vision, of course, an escapist fantasy. There was no way he was going to survive Auschwitz.

But he kept working on his inner movie, night after night, as director, scriptwriter, and star. He produced a scene in which he was giving a lecture in a well-filled auditorium. His body had filled out, and he was wearing a good suit. The people in the audience were
intelligent and enthusiastic. The theme of his lecture was “The Psychology of the Concentration Camps.” In his movie, not only were the death camps a thing of the past; he had retained the sanity and academic objectivity to speak about what went on during the Holocaust from a professional psychiatric perspective.

This exercise in inner vision, conducted under almost unimaginably difficult circumstances, got Viktor Frankl through. One year after the war ended, in a good suit, he gave that lecture as he had seen himself doing in his inner movies.

What do we take away from this?

First, that however tough our situation may seem to be, we always have the freedom to choose our attitude, and this can change everything. Let’s allow William James to chime in: “The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another.”

Second, that our problems, however bad, are unlikely to be quite as bad as the situation of someone who has been sent to a Nazi death camp. That thought may help us to gain perspective, to stand back from a welter of grief and self-pity and rise to a place where we can start to dream up something better.

Third, that we can make inner movies, and if they are good enough it is possible that they will play in the theater of the world.

If we take Viktor Frankl’s example to heart, we see that choosing your attitude can be an exercise in creative imagination that is much more practical and original than trying to edit your inner soundtrack (though that is worth trying) or telling yourself that you can’t afford the energy of a negative thought (you can learn to use the energy of any strong emotion, including grief and rage).

Would you like to make your own life movies, in which you enjoy the satisfaction of your deepest desires? Are you willing to grow a vision of bright possibility so rich and alive that it wants to take root in the world?

Then you want to learn to use your imagination. The word imagination comes from the Latin imago, or image. Imagination has been defined as the faculty that clothes the forces at play in the inner world in images so we can perceive and interact with them. Phantasia, from which we derive fantasy, is the Greek word for imagination. It means “making visible.” The act of making visible makes it possible for humans to communicate with beings that are more than human. “Phantasia was the organ by which the divine world spoke to the human mind,” Robert Johnson observed in Inner Work:

From my experience I am convinced that it is nearly impossible to produce anything in the imagination that is not an authentic representation of something in the unconscious.

The whole function of the imagination is to draw up the material from the unconscious, clothe it in images, and transmit it to the conscious mind. Whatever comes up in the imagination must have been living somewhere in the fabric of the unconscious before it was given an image-form by the imagination.

This book will help you connect with your inner imagineer and become scriptwriter, director, and star of your own life movies, choosing your preferred genre and stepping into a bigger and brave story.

ROBERT MOSS is the creator of Active Dreaming, an original synthesis of modern psychology and shamanism, and offers workshops on dreaming, creativity, and shamanism throughout the world. He is also a bestselling novelist, journalist, and independent scholar. More information at MossDreams.com.

Excerpted from the book Growing Big Dreams. Copyright © 2020 by Robert Moss. Printed with permission from New World Library.

Over the past week, I suffered from a sore neck and shoulders. Then I had a jarring dream several days ago. In the dream, I was in a wooded area and I kept encountering a puma/mountain lion. It was hostile and it kept leaping at my head and biting me on the back of my neck. Every time it bit me, I felt a hot burning sensation that was almost electrical. I don't normally feel anything physically in my dreams, but I did this time, and I kept feeling it even after I woke up. I woke up several times, and whenever I would fall back asleep, it was the same thing all over again. This puma wouldn't leave me alone, and he was really starting to frighten me. Then I noticed that later in the dream, my back was now covered with markings that looked sort of tribal. Then I remember a little boy talking to me. He was of a different ethnicity than me, and he told me his name was Justin. He had the same markings on his back, and he said that he had come into contact with this puma as well. I feel like I have some deeper connection to this little boy, but I've never seen him before in my life. He also seemed a little sad. It is also interesting that after I woke up, all my back and neck problems had completely cleared up where the puma had been mauling me. I felt sort of creeped out for the rest of the day. Could I have been remembering something from a past life? Might this puma have been a spirit guide? Do guides ever appear to be violent? I'd love to know your thoughts on this.

Nicky

Astrea:

Guides can appear to be violent in our dreams, but they aren't going to harm us in any way. I'm sorry yours frightened you, because when that happens to me, I get the same creepy feeling you had, and it usually lasts the whole day as well. This may sound silly, but try a warm drink before you go to sleep at night. My Guides seem to like it when I do that, so it's worth a shot.

Many times, dreaming of a large cat like a puma or mountain lion indicates that there is some very angry energy close to you. This is especially true with you because this animal attacked your neck. Since he didn't attack your throat, this is a situation with an angry person that you should be able to resolve quickly.

Try to remember what happened the day before you had that dream. Was someone in your life particularly pushy or aggressive towards you? Is there someone you want to avoid? Are you perhaps the one who is angry, and do you need to seek resolution to a problem that anger created?

One of your Guides has decided that you are in some kind of danger. While it may not be actual physical danger, it is SOME kind of danger to your self and/or your emotional well-being. Analyze your dream by asking your Guide to show you who or what it is that is emotionally stalking you, and who wants the worst for you.

Evidently the situation is escalating or your guide wouldn't be so aggressive in showing you what is going on. This Guide is relentless and will not stop marking you until you see what it is that you're being told. Concentrate on this. It is too important to let it go by.

You certainly could have been with Justin in a past life, but other things indicate to me that he was the same Guide as the puma. He came to you in the form of a little boy because as a puma, he wasn't getting through to you because that was too scary for you.

Often our Guides shape-shift to get through to us. Yours is trying to tell you something important about your job or the work that you do. Perhaps it's time for a total makeover in this area of your life. Evidently, from what you say about your dream, you've been contemplating this change for several months now.

Usually our Guides don't have to go to such extreme measures. Try to pay closer attention to what this Guide is telling you while you're awake. Since it's a good bet you won't be running into that puma on the street, look for Justin or a boy about his age.

Your guide might speak to you through a child, even a child who is a stranger. I'll never forget the three-year-old in the supermarket who diagnosed my thyroid disease. Even though I knew what she was doing, I ignored the message until I gained another forty pounds!

*****

Susyn:

Spirit guides can sometimes appear violent but in reality, they're just using assertive or dramatic energy in order to lead us to healing. We carry certain ideas about some animals and the danger they can pose, so it's only natural to interpret our interactions with them as violent, aggressive or dangerous.

Your ability to tie the dream and its circumstances to the pain you were experiencing in your neck and back, and those conditions being healed once you awoke are strong indications that you were being aided by this puma even though its manner of attacking these problem areas may have seemed frightening.

Puma medicine is very powerful. Metaphysically, the puma is known for its stealth, steady gaze (offering one the ability to look deeply into the soul) and its ability to heal bones, mend torn ligaments, and provide therapeutic pain relief. Native Americans have used puma medicine to heal the physical body for centuries. In fact, this is one of the sources of the belief that cats of all types have nine lives.

The young boy in your dream who carried the same markings you discovered on your back after the puma attack represents another spirit guide who appeared to assure you that this process was safe and designed to benefit you.

The name Justin represents an empathetic and supportive person. The name Justin also embodies the part of oneself that thrives on a variety of activities such as singing, dancing, painting or the performance arts. His presence in your dream, along with the fact that he appeared to be sad, could be a reminder that an aspect of your life is being neglected.

You may find it enlightening to paint or sketch a picture of this little boy, the surroundings you were in, the markings on your back, and the puma. These aspects of your dream can be drawn individually or altogether as a scene. This artistic task is a wonderful way to uncover the deeper feelings and more soulful aspects of the dream, which could then reveal more to you.

Oftentimes our spirit guides have been with us in past lives, so this is also an aspect of the dream you'll want to investigate further. You can meditate on Justin's ethnicity and also research the areas of the world where pumas are generally found to narrow down the field of where this past life may have occurred. You may also want to consult a psychic who specializes in past lives to get a more detailed account.

The next time you find yourself in physical pain, you can meditate on the puma and even ask the puma to help you to see if this eliminates the trouble. This will also affirm the healing powers of this very special guide of yours, and perhaps enhance your relationship.

Astrea:

Many times in life we hear, "You will always have what you NEED, but not necessarily what you WANT." Your spirit must have needed to experience the feeling of leaving your human body, and the suggestion in the next chapter of Sylvia Brown's book was all it took to get you there.

Even though you hadn't read it yet, your SOUL recognized the title of that chapter as something it had been seeking, and your soul, knowing that you had that reference to read after your experience, got with it and out you went!

While I don't usually recommend her books, Sylvia Brown has a wide reaching and powerful effect on lots of people. A Gemini like you would be able to relate easily to her writing and put it to good use. Synchronicity - you gotta love it!

I like your description of "getting caught." That's exactly what it feels like, isn't it? One minute you're free and hovering above the room, and the next minute, ZAP! back down into your corporeal form you go!

As a little kid, I loved that "feeling of return." With practice, most of the time we can control that event, but sometimes, when our physical ears hear a distracting noise or something else occurs to knock us back into reality, back we go. With practice you will be able to control your return better.

I find it interesting that you were visiting your mother-in-law and not someone in your own genetic family. Evidently, you and your husband got married for reasons that are even deeper than love. His family's interest in "psychic stuff" will nurture your children in such matters and help them to grow into their own abilities.

You'll never have to be concerned that when your daughter visits them, she'll be discouraged from exploring her own psychic life and power. My parents encouraged me to develop my psychic senses in a time when it wasn't nice to even discuss such things in public. Heck, it's STILL not considered a great topic at the dinner table in some families!

Your kids will get to talk about it ALL and ask questions and read and study. This is going to give them such an edge in life! Talk with your husband about how you want to present this to your kiddos, so that you are united in your approach and ready to tell them their experiences are all natural and okay.

A word or two of warning: Geminis often have difficulty staying grounded in REAL LIFE. Don't get so strung out on your ASTRAL life that you neglect what you're doing here on Earth.

You are at the beginning of a long journey to learn where your power really lies. Try to be patient with this process and take your time.